MIS 3360 EXAM 1

Which of the following is NOT a question which managers of an organization should ask before considering a move to the SOA approach

Who owns the data? Who is responsible for initiating and approving changes? What common business services are needed?

Once a company has defined its mission and objectives

a competitive strategy can be formulated

The three key principles shared by the Agile Methodologies include

a focus on self-adaptive processes

Gaining a clear idea of where an organization is, its vision of where it wants to be in the future, and a plan of how to make the transition to its desired state is

a prerequisite to making effective project selection decisions

An on-line or hard copy repository for all project correspondence, inputs, outputs, deliverables, procedures, and standards that is used for performing project audits, orientation of new team members, communication with management and customers, identifying future projects, and performing postproject reviews is called:

a project workbook

A critical path is:

a sequence of activities whose order and durations directly affect the completion date of a project

Changes to the Baseline Project Plan might be motivated by:

a slipped completion date of an activity the identification of a new activity that becomes evident later in the project a bungled activity that must be redone

An ongoing process that defines the mission, objectives, and strategies of an organization refers to:

corporate strategic planning

Which of the following is not a component on the typical information systems plan?

corporation history

A scheduling technique where the order and duration of the sequence of activities directly affect the completion date of a project refers to:

critical path scheduling

Which of the following software producers is generally not a source of application software?

custom software producers

Skills that include interpreting system requests and specifications, site preparation and user training, and contact point for customers best represent:

customer relations

Displays and reports may be easily redesigned if the modules are written in

fourth-generation language

Which of the following software criteria determines whether the software package can perform all or just some of the software tasks your users need?

functionality

Which of the following characteristics is associated with the steering committee selection method?

greater organizational change

Research has found that projects identified by individual departments or business units most often:

have a narrow, tactical focus

Research has found that projects identified by top management more often:

have a strategic, organizational focus

Which of the following is one of the three primary activities associated with identifying and selecting IS development projects?

identification of potential development projects

A department head deciding which project requests to submit is an example of

identifying potential development projects

An advantage of the bottom-up planning approach is:

identifying pressing organizational problems

Turning system specifications into a working system that is tested and the put into use describes

implementation

Which of the following is an advantage to the top-down planning approach over other planning approaches?

improved integration, better understanding, broader perspetive

The complex organizational process through which computer-based information systems are developed and maintained best defines:

information systems analysis and design

Task identification structure refers to the process of dividing a project into manageable tasks and logically ordering them to ensure a smooth evolution between tasks.

False

Which of the following states correctly the formality and use of a project workbook?

In terms of formality, the project workbook would be rated high. In terms of use, the project workbook would be used to inform and serve as a permanent record.

Which of the following programming languages could be used for OOAD?

JAVA AND FORTRAN

An orderly means of assessing the information needs of an organization and defining the systems, databases, and technologies that will best satisfy those needs best defines:

information systems planning

The second planning process that can play a significant role in the quality of project identification and selection decisions is called:

information systems planning

The property that occurs when entity types or object classes are arranged in a hierarchy and each entity type or object class assumes the attributes and methods of its ancestors best defines:

inheritance

All of the following are true about the SDLC EXCEPT:

it is a rapid method to prototype and develop an application the different phases are clearly defined

When considering reuse, which of the following issues should be addressed?

lack of proper training and rewards needed to promote reuse the lack of commitment to reuse the current lack of a methodology for creating and clearly defining and labeling reusable components for placement in a library

Influencing the activities of others toward the attainment of a common goal through the use of intelligence, personality, and abilities refers to which of the following project manager activities?

leadership management

All of the following are advantages of eXtreme Programming EXCEPT:

lower quality code

The phase of the SDLC in which an information system is systematically repaired and improved is referred to as:

maintenance

Skills that include defining and sequencing activities, communicating expectations, assigning resources to activities, and monitoring outcomes best represent:

management

Which of the following is a CASE tool feature that can help you make sense out of matrices?

management of information matrix analysis matrix construction

Comprehensive, multiple-step approaches to systems development that will guide your work and influence the quality of your final product defines:

methodologies

"We are in the business of designing, fabricating, and selling to retail stores high-quality wood furniture" is what kind of statement?

mission statement

A statement that makes it clear what business a company is in is called a:

mission statement

The final phase of the project management process that focuses on bringing a project to an end is called

Project closedown

Which of the following is a true statement regarding project time estimates?

Project time estimates for task completion and overall system quality are significantly influenced by the assignment of people to tasks.

Which of the following is a true statement regarding the IS plan?

Projects from the short-term plan are specific steps to fill the gap between current and desired systems or respond to dynamic business conditions. The short- and long-term development needs identified in the plan are typically expressed as a series of projects. Projects from the long-term plan tend to build a foundation for later projects.

Which of the following grew out of the convergence of the increased speed and turbulence of doing business in the late 1980s and early 1990s and the ready availability of high-powered, computer-based tools to support systems development and easy maintenance?

RAD

Which of the following is a systems development methodology created to radically decrease the time needed to design and implement information systems?

RAD

Which of the following is based on an iterative, incremental approach to systems development and has inception, elaboration, construction, and transition phases?

RUP

Which of the following is a true statement about reusing software?

Reuse should decrease development time. Reuse should result in higher-quality software. Reuse should increase programmer productivity.

Which of the following occurs during project execution?

monitoring project progress against the baseline plan

A major vendor that provides enterprise solution software is:

SAP AG

The traditional methodology used to develop, maintain, and replace information systems best defines

SDLC

The traditional methodology used to develop, maintain, and replace information systems best defines:

SDLC

Gantt charts visually show the time overlap of tasks whereas a network diagram does not show time overlap but does show which tasks could be done in parallel.

TRUE

If an activity's optimistic time is 4 days, its realistic time is 10 days, and its pessimistic time is 25 days, then its estimated time would be 11.5 days

TRUE

In order to determine the resources required for project completion, an organization should analyze the project's scope and determine the project's probability of successful completion.

TRUE

Organizations that have Intranets dictate what applications will run over the Intranet and the speed and quality of the hardware connected to the Intranet.

TRUE

The ability to easily make changes to a project is a very powerful feature of most project management environments.

TRUE

The focus of closing the customer contract activity is to ensure that all contractual terms of the project have been met.

TRUE

The rising costs of information systems is one reason why improved information systems project identification and selection is needed

TRUE

When classifying and ranking projects, resource availability, potential benefits, and project size/duration are possible evaluation criteria

TRUE

Which of the following is a true statement regarding logical design?

Technical specifications are developed. Logical design is tied to a specific hardware and software platform. Logical design does not concentrate on the business aspects of the system.

Some of the most well-known and popular open source software names are:

mySQL Linux Firefox **all of the above**

A diagram that depicts project activities and their interrelationships is called a:

network diagram

Which of the following is a structure that encapsulates attributes and methods that operate on those attributes?

object

A logical grouping of objects that have the same attributes and behaviors best defines

object class

Systems development methodologies and techniques based on objects rather than data or processes best defines:

object-oriented analysis and design

A series of statements that express an organization's qualitative and quantitative goals for reaching a desired future position best defines

objective statements

Principles identified in the Agile Manifesto include:

our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage

Which of the following are project management phases?

planning the project closing down the project executing the project

The extent to which the project is viewed as improving profits, customer service, etc., and the duration of these benefits best defines which of the following evaluation criteria?

potential benefits

Which of the following are deliverables for the planning phase?

priorities for systems and projects; an architecture for data, networks, and selection hardware, and IS management are the result of associated systems

Which of the following is a competitive strategy?

product differentiation low-cost producer product focus

All of the following are success factors for an SOA approach EXCEPT:

programmers would have to work in teams of three establishment of a centralized service repository

A planned undertaking of related activities to reach an objective that has beginning and an end best defines:

project

The third phase of the project management process in which the plans created in the prior phases are put into action is:

project execution

Identification and assessment of all possible systems development projects that an organization unit can undertake is conducted during:

project identification and selection

The phase of the project management process in which activities are performed to assess the size, scope, and complexity of the project and to establish procedures to support later project activities best defines

project initiation

Automated tools available to help you manage a development project are referred to as:

project management software

Which of the following are true statements regarding today's analysis and design of information systems?

There is a movement to wireless system components. More and more systems implementation involves a three-tier design. There is a continued focus on developing systems for the Internet and for firms' intranets and extranets.

An individual with a diverse set of skills - management, leadership, technical, conflict management, and customer relationship - who is responsible for initiating, planning, executing, and closing down a project best defines:

project manager

Arguably, the most instrumental person to the successful completion of any project is the:

project manager

The reuse of object libraries can result in

reduced defect density increased productivity reduced rework

Reasons for outsourcing include:

reducing time to market freeing up internal resources increasing processing efficiencies

An integrated and standard database used in CASE to provide product and tool integration is called a:

repository

The document sent to vendors asking them to propose hardware and software that will meet the requirements of your new system is called a:

request for proposal

Any person, group of people, piece of equipment, or material used in accomplishing an activity is referred to as a(n):

resource

Fowler recommends using an agile process when your project involves:

responsible and motivated developers unpredictable or dynamic requirements customers who understand the process and will get involved

Identifying, assessing, and managing the risks and day-to-day changes that occur during a project best defines which of the following project manager activities:

risk and change management

Critical factors that distinguish Agile and traditional approaches to the systems development life cycle include:

size personnel dynamism

The amount of time that an activity can be delayed without delaying the project refers to:

slack time

Which of the following describes the internal staffing requirements when software components are acquired from packaged software producers?

some internal staff are necessary, but mostly consultants are needed.

The extent to which the project is viewed as helping the organization achieve its strategic objectives and long-term goals describes: Selected Answer:

strategic alignment

The person in an organization who has the primary responsibility for systems analysis and design is the:

systems analyst

The particular processes that an analyst will follow to help ensure that his work is complete, well-done, and understood by project team members best defines:

techniques

Slack time is equal to

the difference between an activity's latest and earliest expected completion time

Pessimistic time is:

the maximum period of time for an activity to be completed

Optimistic time is:

the minimum period of time for an activity to be completed

Realistic time is:

the planner's "best guess" of the amount of time the activity actually will require for completion

The idea behind service-oriented architecture (SOA)is:

to build a system around generic services or specific business function to program in pairs

Which of the following are primary reasons for undertaking systems development projects?

to solve business problems to take advantage of business opportunities

Which of the following possible project sources most often reflects the broader needs of the organization?

top management

Potential development projects con be identified by

top management, a steering committee, as senior IS manager

0 out of 1.667 points A generic information systems planning methodology that attempts to gain a broad understanding of the information system needs of the entire organization defines:

top-down planning

This approach begins by conducting an extensive analysis of the organization's mission, objectives, and strategy and determining the information requirements needed to meet each objective:

top-down planning

The matrix that identifies the relationship between organizational entities and each business function is:

unit-to-function

One criticism of the traditional waterfall SDLC approach is that:

users are locked into requirements

Analyzing an organization's activities to determine where value is added to products and/or services and the costs incurred best describes: Selected Answer

value chain analysis

hen choosing off-the-shelf software, which of the following are the two most important criteria?

vendor viability and vendor support

The process of dividing the project into manageable tasks and logically ordering them to ensure a smooth evolution between tasks defines:

work breakdown structure

Matrices of the target or "future" situation are sometimes called:

"to be" matrices

All of the following are criticisms of the traditional waterfall SDLC EXCEPT:

*** prototypes do not work properly. users are locked into requirements the role of customers is narrowly defined intangible processes are given hard and fast dates

What would be the estimated time for completion if time estimates for installation are as follows: optimistic = 1 week; pessimistic = 1 week; realistic = 1 week?

1 week

What would be the estimated time for completion if time estimates for programming are as follows: optimistic = 4 weeks; pessimistic = 6 weeks; realistic = 5 weeks?

5 weeks

What would be the estimated time for completion if the time estimates for report design are as follows: optimistic = 3 weeks; pessimistic = 9 weeks; realistic = 6 weeks?

6 weeks

Which of the following is a true statement regarding a planning-based approach?

A major advantage of this approach is that an organization's informational needs are less likely to change (or will change more slowly) than its business processes.

During the SDLC planning phase, which of the following activities is undertaken?

A presentation of why the system should or should not be developed by the organization is given. A formal, preliminary investigation is undertaken.

Which of the following is not a guideline for defining a task?

A task should always be completed by one person.

Which of the following is the first ISP step?

Assess current IS- related assets

Which of the following is the first ISP step?

Assess current IS-related assets

The Baseline Project Plan is the primary deliverable from the project identification and selection phase.

FALSE

Which of the following is a way projects can be identified?

bottom-up source & top-down source

When compared to network diagrams, Gantt charts are more useful for depicting the activities associated with large projects.

FALSE

When comparing alternative methods for making information systems identification and selection decisions, top management has the smallest project size and a cross-functional focus.

FALSE

An Internet-based communication that supports business-to-business activities best describes:

Extranet

A location-to-function matrix identifies which organizational units are located in or interact with a specific business function

FALSE

A major disadvantage of the network diagram is its inability to represent completion times and show interrelationships between activities.

FALSE

Mission statements are a series of statements that express an organization's qualitative and quantitative goals for reaching a desired future position.

FALSE

Projects identified by top management have a cross-functional focus.

FALSE

Team members are assessed as part of the conducting postproject reviews activity.

FALSE

A graphical representation of a project that shows each task as a horizontal bar whose length is proportional to its time for completion defines:

Gantt chart

The first administrative information system was:

General Electric's payroll system

Based on 2007 services revenue, which of the following companies is the top global software company?

IBM

Which of the following is an advantage of the bottom-up planning approach?

IS plans can be created faster and are less costly to develop than using the top-down approach.

Which of the following is a true statement regarding ISP?

ISP is a top-down process that takes into account the outside forces (industry, economic, relative size, geographic region, etc.). During ISP, the current and future information needs of an organization are modeled. Strategies and project plans to migrate the current information systems and technologies to their desired future state are developed.

Which of the following best describes the top-down planning approach advantage, better understanding?

If not viewed from the top, planners may lack the understanding necessary to implement information systems across the entire business rather than simply to individual operating units.

Which of the following best describes the top-down planning approach advantage, improved integration?

If not viewed from the top, totally new management information systems may be implemented rather than planning how to evolve existing systems.

Which of the following states correctly the formality and use of hallway discussions?

In terms of formality, hallway discussions would be rated low. In terms of use, hallway discussions would be used to inform and resolve issues.

Which of the following is a true statement regarding network diagrams?

Nodes not on the critical path can be delayed (for some amount of time) without delaying the final completion of the project. All activities with a slack time equal to zero are on the critical path. The critical path of a network diagram is represented by the sequence of connected activities that produce the longest overall time period.

When comparing a Gantt chart to a network diagram, which of the following is a true statement?

Some forms of Gantt charts can show slack time available within an earliest start and latest finish duration, whereas a network diagram shows this by data within activity rectangles

Which of the following describes the internal staffing requirements when software components are acquired from enterprise wide solutions providers?

Some internal staff are necessary, but mostly consultants are needed.

Which of the following is a true statement about RAD?

The emphasis in RAD is generally less on the sequence and structure of processes in the life cycle and more on doing different tasks in parallel with each other and on using prototyping extensively.

What of the following is a true statement regarding the SDLC phases?

The life cycle can be thought of as a circular process in which the end of the useful life of one system leads to the beginning of another project to develop a new version of or replace an existing system.

Which of the following is true regarding Gantt chart construction?

To construct the Gantt chart, a horizontal bar is drawn for each activity that reflects its sequence and duration.

Which of the following is the software reuse step that involves the design of a reusable piece of software, starting from existing software assets or from scratch?

abstraction

The software reuse approach that allows individuals to find or develop reusable assets on their own, and has few, if any, organizational rewards for reusing assets best describes:

ad hoc reuse

If the project team and organizational officials reassess the project after each subsequent SDLC phase to determine if the business conditions have changed or if a more detailed understanding of a system's costs, benefits, and risks suggest that the project is not as worthy as previously thought, they are

adhering to the incremental commitment principle

The process of arranging planning matrix information so that clusters of information with some predetermined level or type of affinity are placed next to each other on a matrix report defines:

affinity clustering

The second phase of the SDLC in which system requirements are studied and structured best defines:

analysis

Software designed to support the payroll function would best be classified as:

application software

Risks can arise from

availability of critical resources resistance to change the use of new technology

Benefits of enterprise solutions do not include:

being an inexpensive alternative to custom development

A generic information systems planning methodology that identifies and defines IS development projects based on solving operational business problems or taking advantage of some business opportunities defines:

bottom-up planning

This approach requires the identification of business problems and opportunities used to define projects:

bottom-up planning

Which of the following companies are ranked in the 2007 top global software companies?

capgemmi, IBM, Microsoft

Which of the following describes the product differentiation strategy?

capitalizing on a key product criteria requested by the market

Ensuring that all contractual terms of the project have been met is done during

closing the customer contract

Which of the following are deliverables for the implementation phase?

code, documentation, training procedures, and support capabilities

Which of the following is not a project closedown phase?

communicating the project status

The responsibility for keeping all team members informed of the project status best describes the

communicating the project status activity

Which of the following is a strategy for a low-cost producer?

competing in an industry on the basis of product or service cost to the consumer

If Kia Motors is attempting to achieve its mission and objectives by providing a low-priced line of cars, this is referred to as its:

competitive strategy

The method by which an organization attempts to achieve its mission and objectives best defines:

competitive strategy

Determining the strengths and weaknesses of project deliverables, the processes used to create them, and the project management process is done during:

conducting postproject reviews

Managing conflict within a project team to assure that conflict is not too high or too low best defines which of the following project manager activities:

conflict management

The matrix that identifies which data are created, updated, accessed, or deleted in each system is

data entity-to-information system

Which of the following is a need for improved information systems project identification and selection?

data redundancy is often out of control, and users may have little confidence in the quality of the data. systems maintenance costs are well under control.

The second activity in the ISP process is:

describe the target situation, trends, and constraints

Developing an understanding of the content and complexity of the project is the purpose of:

describing the project scope, alternatives, and feasibility

Which of the following are deliverables for the analysis phase?

description of current system and where problems and opportunities are with a general recommendation on how to fix, enhance, or replace current system

The output for the analysis phase is the:

description of the alternative solution work plan for the project

The most expensive and extensive reuse approach is

designed reuse

During which of the following activities do you use the information regarding tasks and resource availability to assign time estimates to each activity in the work breakdown structure?

develop a preliminary schedule

Indicating when and how written and oral reports will be provided by the team, how team members will coordinate work, what messages will be sent to announce the project to interested parties, and what kinds of information will be shared with vendors and external contractors involved with the project describes:

developing a communication plan

The third activity in the ISP process is:

developing a transition strategy and plans

Which type of CASE tool is used for the analysis phase of the SDLC?

diagramming

Which of the following RUP phases provides an architecture for the project at the end of its phase?

elaboration

Which of the following RUP phases provides an architecture for the project at the end of its phase?

eleaboration

The use of telecommunications technologies to directly transfer business documents between organizations best defines:

electronic data interchange

A system that integrates individual traditional business functions into a series of modules so that a single transaction occurs seamlessly within a single information system rather than several separate systems best describes:

enterprise resource planning

Large, complex systems that consist of a series of independent system modules best describes

enterprisewide systems

Which of the following project management activities is associated with project initiation?

establishing a relationship with the customer

Which of the following project management activities is associated with project initiation?

establishing a relationship with the customer describing project scope, alternatives, and feasibility

Which of the following is not a project planning activity?

establishing management procedures

Defining the necessary activities required to organize the initiation team while they are working to define the scope of the project is the focus of which of the following activities?

establishing the project initiation plan

The most instrumental person to the successful completion of a project is the database analyst.

false

Which of the following is not an approach that an organization can take to software reuse?

flexible reuse